Anna *** (1987, Sally Kirkland, Paulina Porizkova, Robert Fields, Steven Gilborn, Larry Pine) – Classic Movie Review 13,782  

Sally Kirkland won a Golden Globe and was Oscar nominated for the appealing 1987 American comedy drama film Anna.

Polish film director Yurek Bogayevicz’s 1987 American comedy drama film Anna stars Sally Kirkland, Paulina Porizkova, Robert Fields, Steven Gilborn, and Larry Pine.

Everybody asked ‘Sally who?’ when Sally Kirkland won a Best Actress Oscar nomination for this appealing, hardly-seen film about an ageing Czech actress called Anna (Kirkland) on the New York off-Broadway stage being (metaphorically) stabbed in the back by a woman admirer, aspiring actress Krystyna (Porizkova).

Krystyna travels from her native Czechoslovakia to New York City in search of her idol Anna. While Anna lands a gig as an off-Broadway play understudy, she tutors Krystyna in English and gives her a makeover. But Krystyna then she uses Anna’s life experiences as fodder for a TV show.

But Kirkland is hugely impressive as the actress and there is a solid film acting début by model Paulina Porizkova. The script by Agnieszka Holland is thoughtful and moving, and, if the film is a little off-centre and uneven, it is still worthwhile.

Kirkland drew flak for her tireless self-promotion for the Oscar, taking out full-page trade ads etc, but in the event it did her no good at the Academy Awards. But she did win the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama and the Independent Spirit Award for Best Female Lead.

Agnieszka Holland adapts her screenplay from an unauthorised story by Holland and Bogayevicz, based on the real-life relationship of Polish actresses Elżbieta Czyżewska and Joanna Pacuła.

Elżbieta Czyżewska (May 14, 1938 – June 17, 2010) was a Polish actress who began her career in Poland and moved to New York City in the 1960s.

Polish actress and model Joanna Pacuła (born in Tomaszów Lubelski, on 30 December 1957) emigrated to the US in the early 1980s.

Sally Kirkland (October 31, 1941 – November 11, 2025)

© Derek Winnert 2025 – Classic Movie Review 13,782

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